Cabbage and Chicken Salad

I love cabbage. It is available in the stores whole year, and it somehow manages to preserve such important nutrient as vitamin C (and some others) till late winter. This makes cabbage a good choice of food when your body particularly needs more vitamins.

I consider this a winter salad: cabbage is available any time in the store, as well as chicken and cheese; but it will also taste great when prepared from fresh young cabbage, which is much softer and more juicier.

Additionally, I usually season this salad with dry bread cubes right before serving. I prepare them myself from leftover bread: just dice it and dry in the oven (can’t call them croutons, as they don’t have any seasoning or oil added in the process of preparation). But I guess you can use croutons from the shop instead or skip this part all together.

Ingredients:

0.5lb boneless skinless chicken breast

1 lb white cabbage (about ½ of small head)

½ cup of shredded cheese (I’ve used mozzarella)

About cup of dried bread cubes or croutons (optional)

Mayonnaise

Salt to taste

How to prepare, step-by-step:

Prepare ingredients: I usually prepare bread cubes myself (I cut cubes out of leftover bread and dry them in the oven until crispy), but you can use croutons or skip them all together:

Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 1

Put chicken to salted boiling water and boil it for about 15-20 mins until ready:

Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 2

Then get chicken out of water and set it aside to cool down:

Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 3

Finely shred all cabbage (except stem part), put it to the deep bowl and season with salt:

Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 4

In most cases cabbage (even young one) is rough, even if you shred it fine. Pressing it with your fist will help to make cabbage softer:

Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 5

After this squeeze it with your hands until some juice appears; this will also make cabbage more tender and soft; then set cabbage aside for 10-15 mins:

Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 6

Wait until chicken is cooled down till room temperature, then dice it:

Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 7

Add chicken to the salad bowl:

Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 8

Add shredded cheese:

Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 9

Then mix:

Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 10

Dress with mayonnaise:

Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 11

And mix again:

Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 12

Serve for lunch or before dinner, leftover salad can be stored in the fridge:

Cabbage and Chicken Salad Recipe: Step 13

If you like, season salad with dried bread cubes right before serving (don’t mix bread into the salad – it will soak in salad juices and will stop being crunchy) or serve bread cubes separately on the table: